1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wash apparatus for automotive vehicles and, more particularly, to an apparatus that includes at least one reciprocating wand with the wand including a pair of turbo nozzles adapted to emit a straight beam of water in a circulating conical spray pattern onto the surface of an adjacent vehicle.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
There are many techniques for washing vehicles without conventional hand scrubbing. Perhaps the most common washing system is the tunnel-type car wash system wherein a vehicle to be washed is passed through a series of linearly spaced cleaning stations. Each cleaning station executes a different sequential cleaning operation such as pre-soaking, rinsing, scrubbing, waxing and related operations. However, although tunnel-type washes are generally considered to be effective in washing vehicles, tunnel-type washes may be detrimental to a vehicle""s finish.
For example, some conventional tunnel-type wash systems, xe2x80x9cmitter curtainsxe2x80x9d comprised of strips of cloths that are rocked back and forth transversely across the path of the vehicle abrasively scrub dirt and other debris from the surface of the vehicle. Alternately, or in combination with mitter curtains, revolving brushes may rotatably engage the surface of the vehicle. In either case, the vehicle surface may be scratched by contact with granular dirt particles that may have collected on the mitter curtains or brushes, and/or by contact with the brushes or curtains themselves.
Alternately, brushless car washes do not scratch the surface of vehicles because no parts of the brushes car wash contact the surface of the vehicle. Instead of using mitter curtains or brushes, brushless car washes spray exterior surfaces of a vehicle with pressurized jets of fluid. The jet nozzles are arrayed in a washing frame which revolves around the vehicle or passes linearly along the vehicle, or the frame may be kept stationary wile the vehicle is passed through the frame. In any case, the object is to submit the entire readily visible exterior surface of the vehicle to the spray jets to remove dirt and grease from the vehicle""s surface.
Unfortunately, the cleaning ability of the system is largely dependent upon the pressure generated by the jet sprays, and the further away the spray jets are from the vehicle, the less fluid pressure is delivered to the vehicle"" surface. Accordingly, those parts of the vehicle which are furthest from the washing frame may not be adequately cleaned. Improved automated systems have been devised for moving the washing frame along a curved track in front and behind the vehicle to minimize the problem, but such systems maybe costly because they typically are mechanically more complex and/or must be suspended from an overhead surface.
Another drawback with brushless systems resides in the fact that most utilize xe2x80x9czero degreexe2x80x9d nozzles which emit a straight cylindrically shaped stream or beam of liquid onto the surface of the vehicle and thus the area of coverage of each beam of liquid is minimal. To overcome this drawback, the nozzles have been mounted on rotating wands which broaden the area of coverage, but the surfaces of the vehicle still may not be thoroughly cleaned.
Zero degree nozzles have also been mounted at an angle to the surface of the vehicle so that the liquid spray impinges at an angle that may dislodge grime or dirt on the vehicle surface and, further, non-zero degree nozzles have also been utilized which spray a generally conical pattern of liquid onto the surface vehicle. Conical spray nozzles are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,993 issued to Beer et al.
Recently, nozzles referred to as xe2x80x9cturbo nozzlesxe2x80x9d have been used in a stationary manner in car wash systems with the turbo nozzles emitting a narrow beam of liquid in a circulating movement that defines a conical pattern. Such nozzles are felt to improve the cleansing of the vehicle surface but to applicant""s knowledge, the nozzles have always been mounted in a stationary position on the apparatus.
The present invention has been developed to provide an improvement over prior art car wash systems and to overcome the aforenoted shortcomings in prior art systems.
The apparatus of the present invention has been designed to utilize xe2x80x9cturbo nozzlesxe2x80x9d in a more advantageous manner and does so by incorporating the turbo nozzles into wands that are mounted adjacent to the surface of the vehicle to be cleaned with the wands being mounted for reciprocating movement.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, there are a plurality of wands mounted on a manifold carrying a liquid solution and wherein each wand is adapted to pivot about a shaft that extends substantially perpendicularly to the manifold. A drive/linkage system connects one of the wands to a drive motor which affects reciprocating movement of that wand and, further, links interconnect subsequent wands so that each wand reciprocates in unison and in parallel relationship with the adjacent wands. The linkage for interconnecting the wands extends in parallel relationship with the manifold and in closely spaced relationship therewith so that the manifold itself can be pivoted, if desired, about its longitudinal axis to change the angle of the wands relative to the adjacent vehicle in a convenient and efficient manner.
Other aspects, features and details of the present invention can be more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the drawings and from the appended claims.